yet another day... but with a difference...

Once a year, my company organizes an event for the under-privileged/physically/mentally challenged children. We volunteers spend a day with them by playing games and teach them a couple of things, basically to make them feel happy.

This year we went to Ananya Trust, where 40 children lived and studied in the campus itself. Well the hostel is a single big room, and tents acting as classrooms. These children were grouped based on their abilities to learn and not on their ages/standards. It is a pretty interesting concept which I doubt, whether it work out in the longer run.

We 25 volunteers went in the Van to Ananya. We were all silent for a few minutes, waiting for someone to open a public discussion (Starting trouble!!!)...Finally somebody broke the ice, and from that moment, it was never looking behind... We were one cohesive unit till the end of the day.

As soon as we landed there, well I could sense the freshness in the air. Curious and smiling little kids were watching us from a distance. Obviously as earlier, again we had the starting trouble. A few simple easy games acted as the ice-breaker(s), and they soon started mingling with us. I always fancied myself, when it comes to moving with children. The best way to speak/move to/with them is, when you become one among them...A bigger kid....And today it was no such exception...

We had a good 2 hr lecture on First Aid, which was pretty essential for everyone... This is the first time I had known about the various First-Aid methods in my 24 yr existence on this planet. As soon as that got over, we served them lunch. It was fun serving lunch to them. We came to know their names during this process, and we forced them to come out of their shyness, and the cost we paid for it, was to run up & down the hall as they asked for various food items to be served. A cost which we all wouldn't mind paying :).They were all very happy with the food. And I was laughing to myself about the fact that this is the food, that majority of my company colleagues crib about. "You always realize the importance of a thing only when it is not available to you...."

After lunch, we played "Seven Up" till all except 20 were eliminated. These 20 were involved in "Passing the Parcel" game, and every loser in that game, had to do perform the act mentioned in the chits. They had to recite nursery rhymes, tell A, B, C, D backwards, sing, dance etc... They all did their acts/dares sportingly.

We followed it up with the 'Musical Chair", "Lemon-Spoon" and the balloon stamping game. As these games were going on, we came to know more about each child, the way they studied, and their lifestyle. The kids too enquired about the job we do, and our whereabouts.

Soon, there were 65 kids instead of 40, and there was running, laughter all over the place. In the evening, we had the prize distribution for the winners, and also a gift (one moral story book) to each and every kid. They also surprised us by giving us a 'diwali' card made by them.

As and when we were leaving many kids took some snaps with us and asked, when we would return, and all of us said the same answer "Very Soon"... I do not know how many of them really meant it, but it atleast made the kids happy...

This was my 3rd year at the GVD programme, and nothing has changed all these years... The atmosphere is as always simply superb. Isn't it true that the happiest moments in our life was when we were kids not worrying at anything at all?

It was all fun and frolic for the whole day, but there was one question asked by a little boy which is nagging me. He asked me "What should I do to become like you all?”. Well I told him "You need to score 90 percentile in your Higher Secondary Exams, which will get you into a good Engineering College, and work hard there to get
into Campus Recruitment"..

The fact is that these kids do not have the infrastructure to compete with the metro/tuition based private school kids, and even if they come out successfully in that race of mad exams, who guarantees them of higher education @college and on and on and on...

Well, I do not have a solution for this, but I have been thinking about this for quite some time now... Atleast we (so called the educated brilliants) should not look down at people who are economically or socially behind us.

"Live and let live"...